Which Printed Marketing Tool is Best?

August 16, 2018

We’ve talked about how print materials are still making a marketing dent in the digital age. Even tech giant Google recognizes the effectiveness of printed materials to promote, and – based on a survey released by FedEx Office early this year – it would seem that small business owners and consumers do, too. One of their key findings show that 85 percent of consumers are more likely to shop at enterprises that use custom or professionally printed materials, while four out of five small business owners believe their professionally printed materials help them stand out.

It’s true that you can do a lot with digital marketing (the reach alone is almost infinite!), but there are also many kinds of printed marketing materials you can invest in and ultimately benefit from, whatever your goal may be.

Leaflets and Flyers

These are among the more common printed marketing materials, and more distribution-friendly in terms of size and weight. Typically, leaflets and flyers can be small enough to fit in your standard letter envelope, making them ideal for direct mailers, inserts in newspapers or magazines, and even on a community board in the area where your business or target market is located. In terms of content, you can choose to have a design on both sides of the material, or just combine bold visuals and catchy text on the front.

Posters

Printed posters are great for visual merchandising in physical stores, but this doesn’t mean you can’t use them if you mainly do business online. This is true for products that can be sold through concessionaires. Say you sell artisanal food primarily on your website, then decide to partner with a grocery chain to have your products available on their shelves. You can display posters in-store and in permissible public areas for better exposure. You can even pair it with flyers, but don’t forget to go with a unified design and messaging for consistency.

Brochures and Newsletters

Multi-page materials like brochures and newsletters are usually used to showcase services and products, and inform customers and partners about what’s happening with the business. Think of it as printed versions of your web pages or blog. As usual, content is important. For brochures, it’s best to stick to key product or service information with eye-catching imagery. Newsletters usually have more text-heavy features, but focused on highlights that can pique the audience’s interest. The design should be appropriate for the final printed output, meaning you must consider where creases or folds will be to make sure no text or visuals are compromised. You can go with a traditional flip-type material, or get more creative with accordion-style folds or a gatefold.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: print is not dead. If you decide to integrate them into your marketing campaign, the design process from conceptualization to final artwork – though different – is bound to be exciting. We want to share the excitement with you – talk to us today about your printed marketing needs!